This American Life on NPR has a good podcast about one bad apple spoiling groups, contrary to common thought that group dynamics are more powerful than an individual. The first ten minutes or so lays out the findings of a single study. While it may not be conclusive, it does beg the question of where you fit in your organization?
December 23, 2008
Are you a jerk, a slacker, a depressive pessimist, a diplomat?
September 8, 2008
Twitter and Ambient Awareness
Being a Twitter user myself (mikesol007), I’ve often wondered what purpose it truly serves in the context of my life. This New York Times article sums it up pretty succinctly. In a nutshell, each individual twitter by itself is meaningless, but in true gestalt fashion, as a whole, Twitter feeds give you an “ambient awareness” of what’s going on in your friends’ lives, a sort of “distant telepathy.”
One step closer to a singularity-spawned hive mind, eh?
via BoingBoing via NYT
August 15, 2008
Hacking an Interview
Though this is presented as a how-to for technical interviews, I believe that the content of this 5-minute presentation can be applied to all interviews (and social situations!).
It’s plainly obvious that technical merit alone will not land you a job. For all of you interviewers/managers out there: What’s the percentage breakdown of merit vs. personality for your ideal candidate?
via Lifehacker
May 2, 2008
Life Changing Books
Boingboing has a great post about big-name scientists and books that have changed their lives. My personal list of life-changing books includes:
- Ishmael and My Ishmael, by Daniel Quinn
- His Dark Materials (Trilogy), by Phillip Pullman
- Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand
What are yours?
Only 24 Hours
Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, had a recent entry on time management in his blog. Here’s an excerpt:
Let’s say you have a typical life and try to live it in the healthiest way. You might allocate your 24-hour weekday this way:
Sleep: 8 hours
Exercise: 1 hour
Work: 8 hours
Eating: 2 hours (leisurely)
Hygiene: 1 hour
Travel: 1 (Commute, errands)That leaves you three hours for family time, sex, shopping, food preparation, chores, household repair, volunteering in the school, and so on. If you have a dentist appointment, or your talkative relative calls, or American Idol has a two-hour special, you’re tapped out.
It’s a challenge to live a happy life if you aren’t giving enough attention to all of those categories, yet doing so is nearly impossible.
I found this to be thought-provoking and perspective building. Out of curiosity, how do you usually break up your day?
March 22, 2008
February 28, 2008
February 10, 2008
48% of Americans believe pulling out of Iraq would help fix the economy
Sounds good to me, let’s do it!
Update:
Now that I think about it, I can see some Conservative/Pro Iraq War group spinning it the other way.
“52% of Americans believe pulling out of Iraq would not fix the economy”
February 4, 2008
Super Tuesday!!!
No Ranting
No Persuading
Research & Just Do It
Cuz if you don’t vote
Don’t complain
January 23, 2008
What’s more important?
The War in Iraq (A.K.A. The War on Terror)
or
The US Economy
I know there’s more to it than just pulling out of Iraq to save our economy, but we have to start somewhere.
